VANCOUVER - Crown prosecutors formally signalled their plans to ask that the trials of accused Stanley Cup rioters be broadcast as the first person charged in the June 15 melee appeared in court Wednesday.
Ryan Dickinson, 20, of Coquitlam, appeared by video for a bail hearing on charges of participating in a riot, mischief and breach of an undertaking. He is the only accused rioter in custody.
Dickinson sat wearing red jail garb with his hands in his lap as he watched lawyers discuss his case during a brief court appearance. His lawyer asked that the case be adjourned until Friday.
Dickinson said few words, other than to say he understood what was happening.
During the hearing, Crown counsel Patti Tomasson told the court she intended to apply to broadcast the hearings -- something the premier promised in a throne speech earlier this year would happen.
Outside court, Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said prosecutors will be making such applications for every accused rioter.
"It's being done pursuant to the direction provided by the attorney general that applications be made by the branch for broadcast of the proceedings relating to substantive appearances such as sentencing or guilty pleas or trials," said MacKenzie.
"Obviously, whether or not any of the matters are broadcast is in the control of the court, and how matters may be broadcast would be subject to whatever terms the court might put in place should broadcast be granted."
Seven more accused rioters were expected to make their first court appearances Wednesday afternoon, with others appearing in the coming days and weeks.
Televised legal proceedings are incredibly rare in Canada, although courts in B.C. have policies that allow media outlets or lawyers involved in a case to apply to have cameras inside the courtroom.
Most recently, a B.C. Supreme Court judge allowed cameras to record closing arguments during a landmark constitutional case regarding Canada's anti-polygamy law. A broader application to broadcast the entire trial, including testimony from witnesses, was denied.
Formal guidelines were created in B.C. in 2001 outlining when television cameras can be allowed into the courtrooms and what restrictions should be placed upon them.
The introduction of that policy followed a case a year earlier involving a high-profile human smuggling trial, which was believed to be the first in the province's history to permit cameras inside a courtroom. The presiding judge allowed cameras to capture video and still photographs of the lawyers during closing arguments.
However, an effort to have cameras record proceedings in the case against former premier Glen Clark in 2001 was turned down.
So far, all such applications have come from media outlets.
MacKenzie said the riot cases will mark the first time the Crown has asked for a court proceeding to be broadcast.
The first batch of charges followed a police investigation that took months and faced criticism that it was taking too long.
Vancouver police repeatedly asked for patience, noting investigators were looking through tens of thousands of images and hundreds of hours of video, many obtained by members of the public watching the drama unfold.
The Crown approved charges against 25 people earlier this month, and two more were charged last week. Police have predicted that hundreds of people will eventually be charged with participating in a riot and other offences, including assault, arson and break-and-enter.
One person has already pleaded guilty to charges related to the riot.
Karanvir Singh Saran pleaded guilty to possessing clothing stolen from a store during the riot. He received an absolute discharge, avoiding jail time.
Those charges were laid by the RCMP and weren't connected to the Vancouver Police Department's investigation.
